Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Remember in the post about the laundry room doors, one of the doors covered up a piece of cross stitch when the doors were open? So, in the picture above you can see where I moved a plate that was on another wall

then I moved the cross stitch to where the plate was hanging

and for Jan - a close up of the stitched piece. Sorry - hard to get a really good picture. The piece is "Housework Makes You Ugly" by Sisters and Best Friends. I can't remember what fabric I used, but it is a hand dyed yellow. I think I used the called for threads - I might have changed one or two. It has been awhile since I stitched it and I honestly don't remember. I really should write these things down.

I even filled the little hole and touched it up with a little paint so now I can officially call the laundry room done. (I reserve the right to change any thing at any time, without notice) I could 'almost' call the dining room done, but I want to replace the carpet with wood floors so it may be years before that room is completely done!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Where it looks like something is missing is where vines run through, but I finished all the brown - with less than a yard of floss to spare! (it looks kinda wonky because I didn't take it out of the Q-snap to take the pic)

Hope you are all staying cool - I'm inside in the a/c and still sweating!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Remember my teapot lamp? It has been on my kitchen counter for years. I keep a low watt bulb in it and it stays on all the time. I threw the shade away when we moved (dumb) and had a heck of a time finding a new one for it. Who would have thought it would be so hard? I probably bought and returned at least a half-dozen or better. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the one I finally kept. I don't even remember where I bought it, but I think gave $2.99 for it. It was white and had black piping around the top and bottom. I still wasn't happy with it, but it was the best I could find. (the original shade was more of a bell shape, but I haven't been able to find one the right size) So anyway - I decided it needed help.

I had a set of fat quarters of 'vintage' fabric (that was just the name of the line, they were new fabrics)I bought several different kinds of trim - I only ended up using two so I have extra for the next project.

Picked 6 different fabricsOne for each sectionOut came the spray adhesive (I really hate using that stuff - kicks off a migraine every time, but I needed my lampshade re-vamped! I sprayed outside in the garage and tried not to breathe until I got back inside) also got out the glue gun.Cut, sprayed, glued.What do you think? The shade is still probably a little large for the lamp but it's so cute now, I don't care! :) This isn't a very good picture - the shade isn't as large as it appears!

Have a great weekend!

ps - it is thundering here - I refuse to go out and drag the trash can back in the garage because if I do I know for sure it won't rain so I'm leaving it out!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

This is the table that we started with in the breakfast room. (it is the one that is now in the dining room) I'm not a very good blogger - I had to go back to when we first moved in to find this picture - apparently not only did I not take any when we were moving tables, but I didn't take any while we were painting this room.

After

This is the table that is now in the breakfast room. My dad built the table and bench probably 20+ years ago. The kids were all still little so I know it has been awhile. We bought the chairs at an unfinished furniture store. When we first got it, it was all stained the color of the chair seats. After much use and abuse (natural distress!) I painted it several years ago.

When we got the table oval table, this one went to live with baby boy and his bride until they moved into an apartment that wasn't big enough for a table, then it went to live with three friends that were rooming together. We brought it back to live with us when we were living in the apartment. Like I said - naturally distressed. I really would like to replace the chairs with some ladder-back ones, but haven't found any. I'm planning to paint it all again soon, but this time I am going to paint all of it white(except the top, which is formica). I will also paint the bar stools and the shelf in front of the window. Will I paint them white? Remains to be seen. When will I paint any of it - not until it cools off some! There needs to be some sanding done before painting and it is too hot to go outside and do it now!

I did stitch a little more on Silent Sampler again last night. Not a lot, but every stitch counts! (unless you have to take them out - last night they counted!)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The hubby and I spent the 4th of July weekend painting the dining room so I thought I would show you what it looked like before.This is the room we got when we bought the house. A beige box. It did have the chair rail and crown molding.This is what it looked like when we moved in.After we started getting boxes unpacked (I'm not kidding anybody - there are still boxes that haven't been opened - but none of them are in the dining room now!)

We painted the walls the same color as the entry and kitchen (Butter)The blinds came with the house (shock) the curtains came from Ikea. I have these same curtains in several rooms, just in different colors. Can't beat 'em for the price!Right behind that wall is the front door.This picture shows a pretty good representation of what the colors really look like. We painted the ceiling the same blue as our bedroom. (Dockside Haze) So much better than the fugly beige.Do you see the light switch? To the left of the buffet?Why would you put a light switch there? Almost in the middle of the wall. Do you see how far it is from the entry? Who knows why they didn't put it on the other wall (where the pictures are hanging) or even in the box with the entry and front porch lights, which is on the back-side of the wall a couple of pictures back.

Did you notice we switched tables? We had this round table (oblong with the leaves in it) in the breakfast room. I had been thinking about swapping them just to see how they would work but I put it off until we painted. Should have done it a long time ago. I like both rooms better now! Have I shown you the dining room since we switched tables? Of course the bar stools we bought match this table since it was in there when we bought them. If I had swapped them before we bought the stools, I could have saved myself some painting. (which I haven't done yet)

Roselady asked about the towels on the stove a couple of days ago - no, I didn't make them. The flip-flops one (and the plain white one) came from Home Goods earlier in the summer and the ice cream one came from the Blue Bell Creamery.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Well, it appears the box I sent Anne took the scenic route to get there. I mailed it on Aug 4th and it was supposed to only take two days (really, it should have arrived the next day - it had less than 30 miles to travel!) anywho - I was starting to get concerned about it but it finally arrived on Friday so now I can show you what was in the box. (and I hope I can get that SNL skit out of my head soon - if you saw it, you know what I'm talking about)

Like I said before, there was nothing great in the box. I just picked up little things here and there. A couple of things I bought two - one for me, and one for the box - so really, just things I liked. So - there was a little white vase and vintage hankie I picked up at an antique mall, a journal, bookmark, stork scissors, metal sign, laundry bag, a couple of fat quarters of fabric, a hand painted pink hanger, a pair of 'fancy' gloves (aren't those just too cute?) a small pillow I made and of course, the patriotic banner.

A couple of weird things going on here - there is wet stuff falling from the sky at the moment and I actually crossed a few stitches last night!

I've got my email in a mess. When Timothy was here he moved all my emails to one place (at my request) and fixed it where I can get them on both the desktop and laptop. Some of them I can delete from one place and they will still be on the other computer, some not-so-much. As you have probably guessed by now, I have deleted some I thought would still be on the desktop. Oops. I'll figure it out eventually but if you have sent or send me something and don't get a response - send it again! Once I get it all figured out, I plan to stop using aol all together (since I'm such a spammer and all) and try to get myself a little organized. Of course it may take Timothy coming again to 'coach' me some more.

Friday, August 13, 2010

This is where we left off in the laundry room. Finished except for the door. I didn't want to put the same door back up because (since we raised the washer) when you open the washer door it would hit the doorknob and I didn't want to end up cracking the glass.So we bought a set of bi-fold doors and took them apart so we could use them as 'French' doors.Personally, I was okay with no door - this is how it stays 95% of the time anyway. I used to keep the door closed as much as possible because it was just ugly, but now I don't mind the door being open - makes it easier to hear them ding when they are finished. However, there are those rare times that the washer and/or dryer is going in the evening and it can sometimes make it hard to hear the television so hubby wanted a door, so doors it is.There is just one little problem with the doorsWhen they are open (remember 95% of the time!) this side covers both the light switch and the cross stitch I have hanging there. The switch on the left was the fan/vent switch (which I never use) and the one on the right (behind the open door) was the light switch. Hubby switched those around the other day so now I don't have to move the door to turn the light on. Now if I can just decide where to move that cross stitch piece to we can finally stick a fork in the laundry room and call her done!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

This is the kitchen on inspection day. Blah. Seriously, nothing to get excited about.

In January we replaced the sink and faucet. Much better!

Can you spot the difference in this picture?

Or this one? A couple of weeks ago, the hubby and I finally got around to putting hardware on the cabinets! One of those 'why didn't we do this sooner?' moments. Well, we had another of those moments this past weekend.

Can you see it?

Timothy helped put in under-cabinet lighting! Soooo much better.

My last kitchen had 3 windows and all white cabinets and appliances. (I'm not a fan of stainless, I'm odd, I know - I prefer white, but this is what came with the house) This kitchen is in the middle of the house and while it is an open floor plan, there is no window in the kitchen. If you look back at the before pictures you will see that the counters were always in shadow. There are 4 'can' lights in the kitchen. They give off plenty of light for the center of the kitchen, but the center is not where I am preparing food! Plus - they get hot! (I miss my ceiling fan in the kitchen - I don't care how cold it is outside, you start cooking and it is gonna get hot in the kitchen, and cold outside is something it isn't here!) So we spent a little extra to get LED lighting to keep from adding additional heat where we didn't need it.

Now I just need to get those cabinets painted! I'm sure that is not going to happen anytime soon but the kitchen is making progress!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

We didn't make plans for Saturday and Sunday. We just wanted to spend time together. I love to see my guys communicating as adults. The guys went to see a movie. (Ashley and I stayed home - I offered to take her shopping, but she was still trying to figure out how to pack everything they own into 4 checked bags and two carry-on bags!)

After the movie, we grilled steaks and made home-made ice-cream. While dinner was cooking, Timothy tried to stop the wobble in the fan on the patio.

Switched the blades around, but it still wobbles on high - he put it on medium and called it fixed. Now I've gotta find where I put that balancing kit.

Took a walk down to the park at the end of our blockto take a few pics of the kidsIt has been several years since I had a pic of all the boys together and who knows when I'll get a chance for another.All my guys. Brian, Jason (aka - baby boy) Jimmy (aka - hubby) and Timothy.

Timothy helped with another project while he was here - I have during pics, but haven't taken after pics yet - it's a good one, I'll take pics soon.

Also over the weekend - my brother became a grandfather! My oldest niece had a baby girl - which also makes my parents great-grandparents! David, I need a pic to post!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

It is so quiet here today. Only the sound of the washer and dryer to keep me company.

We had a wonderful weekend, it just passed so quickly.

Wednesday night we drove to J'ville and on Thursday we brought baby boy and his bride - and everything they own - back to Houston. (Timothy made it here just after we did and Brian drove in after he got off work so everyone was here by 10:30pm on Thursday!)

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the car before it was unloaded. Let's just say the kiddos were riding really close all the way home and opening a door was a hazard!I took this picture after they had already spent some time 'organizing'. They purged and sorted and packed four boxes to ship to New York. Later they purged some more and packed some boxes for us to ship to them later. Friday, we dropped the first four boxes off at the post office on our way to Kemah, where we took a little boat ride.Checking out the boat when we bought our tickets.We went to have lunch and look around a bit before our 'tour' time. Can you say HOT? I forget how many days we have had heat advisories - I think we are on at least eight. The humidity is terrible. If you looked at the link for The Beast, you might have noticed where it warns that you will get wet.Right after I snapped this picture these two slipped up to two empty seats up front where they thought they wouldn't get wet.Baby boy and his bride always take a good picture!

By the time we got off the boat we were all drenched and once the boat slowed down, then stopped it felt hotter than it did before we left! We had some towels in the car to dry off a bit, but we had planned to come on back home anyway so we could fetch the dogs (they had been at the doggie spa while we were in J'ville) before the vet closed for the day.

If you happen to be close by and decide to take a ride on the beast - they aren't kidding when they say they will do everything they can to make sure you get wet. Here are a couple of tips: Either leave electronic equipment (phones, cameras) in the car or make sure you have something to put them in so they won't get wet. Just sticking them in your pocket isn't the best idea. Take towels, and if you aren't planning to leave as soon as you are done, take dry clothes! Also - don't take the dry stuff on the boat with you unless you waterproof it first - if you don't, they won't do you much good!